sassacraft #16

happy first birthday, B. for you, i made this. your mommy (my friend Emily) picked the verse 3 John 4 and i decided where to go from there. i painted a cross, off-center, on this canvas. then i mod podged pages from the Gospel of John. i painted your sweet little feet pink and let you make some footprints on the canvas. i wrote the verse: "I have no greater joy than to know that my children are walking in the truth," on the cross and around your footprints.

this piece is so special, because it reminds your mommy and, eventually, hopefully, you that you must strive each day to walk in the Truth. and i pray that every time your precious mommy sees it she will remember to pray for your salvation and walk with Christ, that you will grow each day closer to the heart of God and rest your head always upon His chest and cherish His Name. i know your mommy already prays for your salvation. you should know that. you are so precious to her, but you are even more precious to Jesus, sweet girl. that is why you are a Joy.

sassacraft #15

well, this is it, folks.

i know you have just been dying for me to reveal the piece i made for Emily. at least, i know i've been dying to reveal it, so your impatience is understandable.

but first, let me tell you a little about this piece. i love it. a lot. i wish i wasn't giving it away, because i have the perfect place to hang it. and it would look awesome there. it really would.

second, it is a mod podge canvas with burlap embellishments. i ripped apart my copy of Out of Africa by Isak Denisen and asked my mom to help me sort through the pages looking for good quotes and interesting pages. i mod podged the pages down one at a time, working very carefully not to leave any bubbles (there are a few, but not too many). then i drew out a large outline of Africa and used my new favorite tool--a rotary blade--to cut it out. i cut a heart from red burlap and used some thin gardening twine to stitch the heart to Africa. threading that needle was the most difficult part of this whole project. then, i used tacky glue to stick Africa to the canvas. ta-da, art!

and Emily loves it. see for yourself.

sassacraft #12 (adorned)

yay, a model!

see how cute the flowers are? you want one, don't you? for a limited time, starting at the low low price of $5. get them while you can, because this price won't last long!

sassacraft #12 (and a half)

more flowers. an hour an a half of work, and i have six more colors. just thought i'd share the hues, and let you know that a red is on it's way. a certain craft store here only carries shade of pink. really, if you want one, let me know!

sassacraft #14

this is a craft surprise for my dear friend Emily. we did a craft exchange (that was supposed to be for Christmas...) and she gave me my craft a couple weeks ago. she sewed a super cute purse that i absolutely love and need to take a picture of to show you all. and i made her this. she's gonna love it.

if you can't tell what it is, that's because i blurred it out, thanks to picnik. you see, it's a surprise. check back in two weeks and you'll see what it really is. you'll also get to see what i made for Em's sweet baby's first birthday. that's a surprise too.

anyone want to take a guess? and JJ, you can't guess, because you already know!

sassacraft #13

necessity is the mother of invention, or ingenuity. or something like that.

if you ask me, those boys are twins.

i was making my flowers, and cut open the bag of tiny beads (that was already spilling beads all over my desk without me knowing it) and found that these little things can escape from grasp very, very fast. i needed something to put them in, and i needed it five minutes ago.

i corralled the beads as best i could back into the baggie, and found myself so very thankful for strange donations. you see, about, i don't know, eight or nine months ago, a mother brought a box of empty baby food jars into the daycare to see if we could use them. they sat in the hallway by the craft cabinets for about six months, then i claimed them for my class in January, saying that i would make snowglobes with my three year olds (i know, i was overzealous...) well, i never got around to actually planning that craft, much less executing it, and March rolled in last week with the jars collecting dust in the corner. so i brought them home, thinking surely i could do something with them.

surely enough, i could. i found that baby food jars are the perfect size for holding tiny beads, small clothespins, scraps of Scripture, and buttons, among many other things: eyebolts, wire, ribbon scraps, screws, nails, bobby pins, barrettes..i could go on!

but with all that usefulness, the lids were kind of ugly. brand names just aren't that attractive. so i found a way to make them so. i cut 3 x 3 squares of fabric and mod podged them to the lids. I tied a thin ribbon around the lid for extra hold and trimmed the extra fabric off, though it looks cute with the pointy parts too. i only made four with some scrap fabric, but i think i might hit up Hobby Lobby on saturday for some fun spring prints to brighten things up. by next monday, i will have two dozen or so cute little jars for holding little things that can easily get lost under all the big things.

i can't wait!

Sassacraft #12

ah, flowers. i do love them. they always make me smile, and make me happy, and make me marvel at the amazing intricacies of God's creative hands. flowers are so beautiful, unique, delicate, colorful, and powerful. i mean, we wouldn't have honey without flowers, and if we didn't have honey, there would have been no "land flowing with milk and honey" for God to promise to the Israelites. the manna in the desert would never have tasted like "wafers made with honey." Samson could never have eaten honey taken from a lion's carcass, then made a riddle of this experience that would reveal his wife's character and loyalties when she told her people the answer to his riddle. David never could have said that the laws of God tasted like honey on his lips, sweeter even than honey from the honeycomb. John the Baptist would have had to subsist on only locusts in the wilderness, instead of locusts and honey (which, to me, would be the only way i would ever eat a locust, if it were smothered in honey...). and the scrolls Ezekiel and John ate would never have tasted so delicious on their tongues. flowers make honey possible, and without honey, the promises and truths of God would lose their flavor. God provided so divinely, so completely, that He made flowers to make honey possible, so that we could understand in part the fullness, richness, sweetness of His law and love and sovereignty and majesty.

in my own attempt to reflect His glory and majesty, i have tried my hand at making some flowers. i didn't come up with this craft on my own. i'm not that creative to know about fabric like this. i borrowed the craft from one of my new favorite bloggers, hailing from the great northeast, Emily. she posts tutorials and fun things on her blog, and sells some art prints that i like. if you want to know how to make these adorable imitations of God's awesome majesty, feel free to browse her tutorials and learn a few things like i did. i'm not going to explain them here, only say that they were easy, fun, and dangerous to make. a great combination!

and if you'd like to have one of you own, but don't want to try your hand at making them, i've got your back. $5 each, and you pick the way you want to wear it. hair clip? pin? headband? let me know!